Sand pump for oil and water wells



Jan. 3, 1956 M. A. ADAMS SAND PUMP FOR OIL AND WATER WELLS Filed Jan.21, 1955 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 FIG. .1. 5

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Jan. 3, 1956 M. A. ADAMS SAND PUMP FOR OIL AND WATER WELLS 2Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Jan. 21, 1955 MOZE' L INVENTOR A. .404 Ms,

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United States Pate 2,729,171 I SAND PUMP FOR OIL AND WATER WELLS MozelA. Adams, Rayne, La, assignor of one-half to Joseph F. Burdett, Houston,Tex.

This invention relates to pumps, and more particularly to an improvedself-cleaning pump especially suited for use in oil wells and the like.

A main object of the invention is to provide a novel and improvedself-cleaning pump which is especially suitable for use in an oil well,said pump being simple in construction, involving only a few parts, ;andproviding an eflicient self-cleaning action which frees the valves ofthe pump from accumulations of sand or other foreign material in acontinuous manner simultaneously with the normal action of the pump.

A further object of the invention is to provide an improvedself-cleaning pump for use in oil wells, and the like, said pumpinvolving inexpensive components, being reliable in operation, beingprovided with means for continuously clearing the valve portionsof thepump of sand or other foreign material, thus preventing the pump frombecoming fouled, and being arranged so that floating sand or other finepowdered material encountered in the fluid being handled by the pumpwill be moved through the pump and will not settle or accumulate aroundthe moving parts of the pump.

Further objects and advantages of the invention will become apparentfrom the following description and gages when the plunger 18 is movedupwardly in the cas ing 12. The ball 16 is lifted off its seat 21 on thedown- Ward stroke of the plunger 18, by the fluid contained in theplunger underlying the ball 16.

As shown in Figure 2, the plunger 18 is reduced in diameter at its upperportion, as shown at 22, defining a space communicating with theapertures of ball cage 14. The lower end of the plunger 18 is inwardlytapered, as shown at 23, in Figure 2a, and said lower end is formed withapertures 24, whereby the interior of the plunger is in freecommunication with the portion of casing 12 below the plunger.

Designated at 25 is a vertical conduit which is secured o the lower endof the plunger 18, and communicating with the conduit 25 in alignmenttherewith and similarly secured to the lower end of the casing is theupwardly 1 extending vertical conduit 26.

As shown in Figure 2a, the conduits 25 and 26 extend axially withrespect to the upper plunger 18. The top end of the upper conduit member26 is integrally connected to a plurality of upwardly and outwardly in-,clined conduits 27, said conduits extending through the wall of thereduced upper portion of the plunger 18, and connecting the conduit 26with the space in casing 12 adjacent said reduced upper portion 22 ofplunger 18. Thus, the conduits 25 and 26 are in communication with thespace adjacent the reduced portion 22 of the plunger and are thereforealso in communication with the interior of the ball cage 14 through theapertures 15.

Thedepending vertical conduit 25 extends slidably and sealingly throughthe top end wall 28 of a vertical cylin- .der 29, the conduit 25 beingreceived through a sealing claims, and from the accompanying drawings,wherein:

Figure 1 is a vertical cross sectional view taken through a well casingprovided with animproved self-cleaning pump assembly according to thepresent invention.

Figure 2 is an enlarged vertical cross sectional view taken through theupper portion of the pump assembly of Referring to the drawings, theimproved pump is desig- I nated generally at 11 and comprises the wellcasing 12 containing the respective moving elements of the pump.Designated at 13 is the actuating rod which isconnected gaged in thecasing 12 and being provided with a plurality of annular sealing rings19 secured in grooves 20 formed in the exterior of the hollow plunger18.

The sealing rings 19 may be of any suitable material, such as fibre, orthe like, adapted to slidably and sealingly engage the inside wallsurface of the casing '12.

As shown in Figure 2, the rim 17 is formed with an annular seat 21 onwhich the valve ball 16 sealingly england 30 provided centrally in thetop wall 28, as shown in Figure 2a. Secured to the lower end of theconduit 25 is the circular piston 31, said piston being provided at itsperiphery with the resilient deformable annular swab element 32 whichslidably and sealingly engages the inside wall surface of cylinder 29.

As shown in Figure 2a, the lower end portion of the conduit 25 isprovided adjacent the piston 31 with a plurality of apertures32, wherebythe conduit 25 is in communication with the space in cylinder 29 abovethe piston 31.. Thus, as will be presently explained, when the topplunger 18 is moved upwardly, the conduit 25 will be likewise urgedupwardly with respect to the cylinder 29, and any material trapped inthe cylinder 29 will be forced upwardly through the conduits 25 and 26,and through the space adjacent the reduced top portion 22 of plunger 18and through the apertures 15 into engagement with the valve ball 16,agitating the region around the valve ball and washing said ball free ofany foreign material, such as sand or the like.

The bottom wall 33 of the cylinder 29 is provided with 21 dependingexternally threaded conduit element 34 to which is threadedly secured aball cage 35, the top portion of said ball cage being provided with anaxial ver tical passage 36 which is in communication with the space incylinder 29 below piston 31, whereby said space is in free communicationwith the interior of ball cage 35. The interior of the ball cage 35 islikewise in free communication with the space in casing 12 below plunger18 by the provision of the apertures 37 in the ball cage, as shown inFigure 2b. The ball cage35 contains the valve ball 38, as shown.

Threadedly secured to the lower portion of the ball cage 35 is thesleeve-like lower plunger 40, said lower plunger having the top rim 41formed with an annular ball seat 42 on which the valve ball 38 issealingly engageable and onwhich said valve ball seats when the lowerplunger 40 is'moved upwardly in the casing 12. The plunger 40 is openat'its bottom end, whereby fluid in the casing can move upwardly in theplunger 40 when said plunger is moved downwardly in the casing, thuscausing the valve ball 38 to become unseated and allowing the fluid topass upwardly into the casing space between plunger 18 and plunger 40through the apertures 37. The plunger 40 is provided with a plurality ofsealing rings 43 which slid ably and sealingly engage with the insidesurface of the casing 12.

As will be readily apparent, when the top plunger 18 is moved downwardlywith respect to the lower plunger 40 and the cylinder 29 secured to saidlower plunger, the piston 31 exerts a downward force on the liquidtrapped in the lower portion of the cylinder, forcing the liquiddownwardly through the conduit 34 and the passage 36 onto the valve ball38, whereby said valve ball is sprayed with the liquid and is washedfree of sand or other similar foreign material, the stream of liquid atthe same time agitating the material around the valve ball 38 and thevalve seat 42 and preventing. such material from settling on the valveseat or from otherwise accumulating around the valve ball 38.

- In operation, the rod 13 is reciprocated by the pump jack and thusacts to reciprocate the top plunger 18. The downward movement of the topplunger 18 is transmitted through the conduit 25 and the piston 31 tothe cylinder 29, which in turn transmits the downward movement throughthe ball cage 35 to the lower plunger 40. Downward movement of the lowerplunger 40 causes the ball 38 to be unseated, and allows liquid to flowupwardly through the openings 37 into the space in casing 12 betweenlower plunger 40 and upper plunger 18. At the same time, liquid in saidspace is allowed to move through the hollow upper plunger 18, suchliquid entering the upper plunger through the apertures 24, the downwardmovement of plunger 18 causing the ball 16 to become unseated due to thepresence of liquid beneath the ball. Said liquid passes through theapertures of ball cage 14 into the space above the upper plunger 18. Onthe upward stroke of the rod 13, the liquid trapped above the upperplunger 18 is elevated upwardly through the casing 12in the normalmanner. The lower valve ball 38also closes, because of the liquidtrapped between the upper plunger 18 and the lower plunger 40.

As above explained, on the downward stroke, liquid trapped in the lowerportion of the cylinder 29 is forced downwardly onto the ball 38 andinto the space adjacent said ball by the compression exertedon theliquid by piston 31. At this time liquid is drawn into the portionofcylinder 29 above piston 31 from the space in casing 12 above theupper plunger 18, since the conduits 27 are in free communication withsaid space due to the reduced diameter of the upper portion 22 of theupper plunger 18. On the upward stroke of the rod 13, the liquid trappedin the upper portion of cylinder 29 is forced upwardly through passages32 and the conduit elements 25, 26 and 27 into the space adjacent thereduced upper portion 22 of plunger 28, and thence through the apertures15 against the valve ball 16 and the interior portions of the cage 14adjacent said valve ball. Therefore, the reciprocation of the pumpelements causes a continuous washing and agitating action, the valveballs 16 and 38 being washed free of sand or similar foreign materialand the valve seats being maintained free of any foreign material suchas silt, sand, or the like. This self-cleaning action occurssimultaneously with the normal operation'of the pump and occursautomatically responsive to the reciprocation of the pump elements inthe casing.

While a specific embodiment of an improved self-cleaning pump for use inoil wells and the like has been disclosed in the foregoing description,it will be understood that various modifications within the spirit ofthe invention may occur to those skilled in the art. Therefore, it isintended that no limitations be placed on the invention except asdefined by the scope of the appended claims.

What is claimed is:

1. A pump comprising a casing, a hollow upper plunger in said casinghaving a first ball valve therein, a depending conduit connected to saidupper plunger, a piston secured to said conduit, a hollow lower plungerin said casing having a second ball valve therein, and a cylinderconnected to said lower plunger and slidably housing said piston, andmeans connected to said conduit and cylinder arranged to circulate fluidfrom the casing against said ball valves responsive to the reciprocationof said plungers in the casing.

2. A self-cleaning pump comprising a casing, a hollow upper plungerslidably engaged in said casing said upper plunger having an externallyreduced top portion and being apertured at its lower end portion, a ballcage on said top portion, a valve ball in said cage and sealinglyengaging said top portion when said upper plunger is moved upwardly insaid casing, a hollow rod member secured in said upper plungerand'communicating with the space adjacent said reduced top portion, saidrod member extending below said upper plunger, a hollow cylindersurrounding and slidably engaged on said rod member below said upperplunger, a piston secured to the rod member slidably engaging theinterior wall surface of said cylinder, said rod member being aperturedto communicate with the space in said cylinder above said piston, ahollow lower plunger slidably engaged in said casing below saidcylinder, a ball cage connecting said lower plunger to said cylinder,said last-named cage having a passage communicating with the lowerportion of said cylinder, and a valve ball in said last-named cage andsealingly engaging said lower plunger when said lower plunger is movedupwardly in said casing, whereby fluid will be trapped in said cylinderand will be circulated against said ball valves responsive toreciprocation of said upper plunger in said casing.

3. A self-cleaning pump comprising a casing, a hollow upper plungerslidably engaged in said casing said upper plunger having an externallyreduced top portion and being apertured at its lower end portion, a ballcage on said top portion,'a valve ball in said cage and sealinglyengaging said top portion when said upper plunger'is moved upwardly insaid casing, a hollow rod member secured in said upper plunger andcommunicating with the space adjacent said reduced top portion, said rodmember extending below saidupper plunger, a hollow cylinder surroundingand slidably engaged on said rod member below said upper plunger, apiston secured to the rod member slidably engaging the interior wallsurface of said cylinder, sa'id rod member being apertured tocommunicate with the space in said cylinder above said piston, a hollowlower plunger slidably engaged in said casing below said cylinder, aball cage connecting said lower plunger to said cylinder, saidlast-named cage having a passage communicating'with the lower portion ofsaid cylinder, and a valve ball in said last-named cage and sealinglyengaging said lower plunger when said lower plunger is moved upwardly insaid casing, said valve balls being arranged to open responsive to thedownward movement of said upper plunger in the casing, allowing fluid topass above said upper plunger and allowing fluid to enter the upperportion of said cylinder while fluid is expelled against the last-namedvalve ball from the lower portion of the cylinder,'and being arranged toclose responsive to the upward movement of said upper plunger, wherebyfluid trapped in the upper pcirtionof said cylinder is forced upwardlythrough said hollow rod member and is circulated against the first-namedvalve ball.

1,628,901 Neilsen May 17, 1927

